Products with nutrition and health claims in the Western Balkans: labelling behaviour, regulation and policy implications

• Autores: Žaklina Stojanović, Radmila Dragutinović-Mitrović, Martine Zaouche-Laniau
• Localización: European journal of law and economics, ISSN 0929-1261, Vol. 43, Nº 1, 2017, págs. 107-123
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This paper analyses food industry labelling behaviour in regulated and unregulated markets of products with nutrition and health claims (N&H claims) in the Western Balkans. The aim is to find out whether the intervention of the lawmakers in the form of labelling regulation improves transparency of labelling behaviour and facilitates a more informed consumer choice. The analysis is based on a shop survey of 475 products with N&H claims, conducted in six Western Balkan countries (WBC). Statistical inference is derived from the results of the Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis non-parametric tests as well as the Dunn post-test for all pairwise comparisons as a form of simultaneous nonparametric inference. Differences among the countries constituting the region are significant. In comparison with regulated markets in the region, unregulated WBC markets are characterized by a higher level of “spurious” statements dominated by regional/domestic producers not obliged to use scientifically-approved claims in their corporate practices. In these conditions, differences in labelling behaviour are expected as well, which is only partly confirmed by our testing results.